Exercise is an indispensable component of holistic health for natural healing. Exercise is healthy not only for your body but also for your mind in the following ways:
- Regular strenuous exercise releases your built-up tension, and is effective for stress control and stress management.
- Exercise increases the supply of oxygen to your brain, and thus enhancing your brain function, making you younger for longer. It can even make you “high” through the release of endorphins, which are euphoric substances in your brain. Regular exercise is good for your mental health.
- Exercise increases your heart and lung efficiency.
- Exercise helps lower your blood pressure.
- Exercise slows your basal metabolic rate (the minimum energy required for your body functioning).
- A number of studies indicated that regular, even moderate, exercise reduces the risk of colon cancer, prostate cancer, and possibly breast cancer.
- Aerobic exercise may have significant and particular benefits for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes: it increases sensitivity to insulin, lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol levels and decreases body fat.
- People with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, which may improve mobility, reduce spasticity in neurological disorders, and reverse muscle atrophy.
One of the prerequisites of natural healing is the absence of toxins. A toxic body with toxic chemicals and a toxic mind with negative thoughts not only prevent but also disrupt the self-healing process of the body and the mind. Exercise detoxifies both the body and the mind, leading to holistic health and wellness. Exercise not only stimulates blood circulation and the movement of lymphatic fluids, but also promotes the reduction of fat reserves, thereby instrumental in facilitating the removal of toxins stored in the body. Low-impact aerobic exercise, such as jumping rope or a bouncer, significantly improves the body’s circulation to benefit detoxification. The body and the mind are inter-connected. Therefore, body detox leads to mind detox.
Another factor that affects natural healing is stress, which is the Number One factor in the cause of disease and disorder. Natural healing is almost impossible to occur in the presence of chronic stress, which causes your body to maintain physiological reactions to stress for extended periods of time. During stress, your body uses its DHEA and thus impairs the normal functioning of your body’s hormonal glands as well as your immune system. Use exercises to de-stress to promote natural healing.
Everyday stress may be caused by work stress, time stress, financial stress, relationship stress, health stress, and aging stress, among others (For more information, visit my web page: De-stress to Heal.)
Oriental exercises are particular effective in controlling stress because they focus on natural movements, posture, and correct breathing to bring about holistic health of the body and the mind.
Qi Gong is a set of self-healing exercises designed to balance your qi, bringing you back into harmony with Nature. These exercises incorporate your posture, movement, breathing, meditation and visualization to move oxygen and nutrients from your blood to organs and tissues. Distress and anxiety are dispelled during meditation; positive thinking with great confidence is affirmed; and concentration is emphasized. Through qi gong, you gain control of your body and mind, thereby instrumental in stimulating the circulation of your blood and qi. Qi Gong is an excellent exercise for natural healing.
Yoga is more than an exercise: it is a science that has been practiced for thousands of years, based on ancient theories, observations, and principles about the connection between the mind and the body. The intrinsic benefits of yoga have been proven by modern medicine. Yoga not only provides you with the most practical approach to attaining a high level of physical fitness, but also stabilizes your emotions and elevates your mental attitudes. In other words, yoga unites your mind, your body, and your spirit. Essentially, it is a holistic approach to your well-being. Through awareness of your body’s posture, alignment, and patterns of movement, yoga is therapeutic in that it helps your body find true harmony, thereby healing the body and the mind. Yoga is also an excellent exercise for natural healing of the body, the mind, and the spirit.
Tai Chi is all about movements to circulate your body invisible energy called qi. Smooth circulation of qi energy ensures a healthy body. Stagnant and blocked qi energy causes all sorts of chronic disease. Tai Chi is an ancient exercise that has been practiced for thousands of years as an effective alternative healing for the body and the mind. By strengthening the immune system, Tai Chi can improve your chronic disease slowly but steadily. More importantly, it can relieve your stress and calm your nerves, and thus an ideal exercise for natural healing.
Five Secret Tibetan Rites, with simple-to-do exercises, can effectively give more physical energy and maintain greater mental alertness. These exercises have been practiced by Tibetan monks for centuries for body-mind wellness. Follow the Tibetan monks to use this exercise for natural healing.
For more information on how to develop exercise mentality, go to my blog: Exercise Mentality.
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
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